The Liverpool Women notched another win this week when they faced West Ham on Sunday.
Things look to be optimistically turning around for the Liverpool Women. A win in the FA Cup midweek and now a win in the league, coincidentally both against West Ham, have helped to hopefully improve morale around the squad. The January signings couldn’t have arrived at a better time to help move the squad forward through the season, as things appear to be weighing on the squad.
“It was a tough game,” Matt Beard told the club website following Sunday’s match.
“I think both teams looked tired. But I was really pleased, I felt we were in control of the game for most parts of it. I think it was just important to get three points and also another clean sheet, which is really positive. “
One of the bright spots has been striker Leanne Kiernan finally getting a goal, her first for the season if you can believe it. If Kiernan can stay fit, the confidence will hopefully encourage her to keep scoring and hopefully help something that the Red Women seem to be struggling with.
“Once Leanne gets her goal, then she scores goals – it’s as simple as that. She’s enjoying her football again at the moment,” Beard said of the striker.
“I think personally she’s in the best place that I’ve seen her in a long time. Delighted for her. It was great movement as well, the way she’s ghosted in and what a deft flick it was. It was a fantastic assist.”
While Kiernan’s goal was the difference maker on the day, the women had a chance for two in the second half, and Beard spoke briefly on looking dangerous around set pieces, taking advantage of good space, and looking forward to the rest of the season.
“I felt we got in some good areas, I felt we could have done a bit more, especially getting bodies in the box. Obviously Yana [Daniels] has had a cross-shot that nearly went in,” the manager explained.
“But I felt we could have scored off corners today – I think we had two or three really good opportunities, especially the latter one in the second half and the one in the first half. We scored three against them on Wednesday, so you’d expect them to have that as one of their focus points.
“I’ve said it time and time again, pre-season is so important for your season and we didn’t really have a good pre-season and we’ve been playing catch-up. We’ve obviously brought three players in this window, so they’re now finding their feet.
“So, we’re going to have inconsistencies as we go but I know the group of players that I’ve got here that we will win more football matches than we will lose. As I say, it’s one of those things that you can’t put your finger on with all the injuries that we had in the first part of the season. We’re over that now and we’re looking in a good position.”
The Women next face Rugby Borough in the FA Cup on Saturday, February 9, at 12:30pm GMT.